Tag Archives: NEB

Canada’s pipeline watchdog has given two of North America’s largest energy companies up to six months to fix what industry insiders have described as a series of “ticking time bombs.”

The National Energy Board waited eight years after U.S. regulators raised the alarm about substandard materials, finally issuing an emergency safety order in February. At least one Canadian pipeline with defective materials blew up during that period.

Newly-released federal documents show that Texas-based Kinder Morgan and Alberta-based Enbridge are both looking into the use of defective parts purchased from Thailand-based, Canadoil Asia, that recently went bankrupt. But the companies were not immediately able to say where they installed the dodgy parts. It’s a problem that also struck Alberta-based TransCanada, which had defective materials in its own pipelines, including one that blew up in 2013.

The City of Vancouver has filed with the Federal Court of Appeal an application for a judicial review of the National Energy Board’s (NEB) decision to conditionally recommend Kinder Morgan’s pipeline expansion project (the “Project”), citing that it is both invalid and unlawful. Throughout the NEB review process, the City and many other intervenors have raised significant concerns about its flawed process which excluded any opportunities for oral cross-examination of experts and evidence, provided inadequate information sharing and failed to properly consult affected communities along the pipeline and tanker route.

“An expanded Kinder Morgan pipeline is not in Vancouver or Canada’s economic or environmental interest,” says Mayor Gregor Robertson. “The National Energy Board failed to properly and thoroughly consult local communities on the pipeline and tanker route, ignoring key pieces of scientific evidence showing the potential for real and catastrophic damage to local waters in the event of an oil spill, and the impact of an expanded pipeline on greenhouse gas emissions both locally and abroad. Vancouver still has significant concerns about Kinder Morgan’s expansion and we’ve concluded it’s simply not worth the risk to our environment or economy.”

In the application, the City outlines that the NEB failed to comply with the requirements of the NEB Act by ignoring key pieces of evidence submitted by the City as part of the process which supported the City’s position that:

The West Coast brought fighting words to Ottawa today, asking the federal government to deny final approval of the proposed Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion.

A delegation from Vancouver said it came to Ottawa to urge the government to “say a definitive no” to Kinder Morgan’s proposal to twin its existing line from Alberta to British Columbia.

Meanwhile, Green Party leader Elizabeth May said she would be seeking a judicial review of the National Energy Board’s approval process.

The regulator recently approved the project, and it now waits final approval from Ottawa.

The delegation composed of Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, Chief Maureen Thomas from the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, Chief Ian Campbell from the Squamish Nation, and Councillor Howard Grant from the Musqueam Nation.

All the First Nations are located near Vancouver, and their representatives said the Liberal government’s actions on the pipeline would prove to be a test of its sincerity in reconciliation with First Nations.

“We are here representing our citizens on the West Coast; our consent is required on this project,” Robertson said. “The vast majority in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland do not support the Kinder Morgan expansion pipeline project.”

Kinder Morgan recommendation puts one of Canada’s most iconic endangered species, the Southern Resident killer whale, at risk of harm

VANCOUVER – The National Energy Board (NEB) broke the law when it failed to apply the Species at Risk Act in its final report on Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline project, environmental groups say.

Ecojustice lawyers, representing Living Oceans Society and Raincoast Conservation Foundation, have filed for a judicial review of the NEB’s report that recommended the federal Cabinet approve the Kinder Morgan pipeline. The groups argue that the NEB’s report is unlawful and used an overly narrow interpretation of the law to avoid addressing harm to Southern Resident killer whales and their critical habitat.